Four legal views determined failures of the Disciplinary Board of the Navy

The lack of due process; that the officers were not on duty; that the head of state is not a military authority; and that reports with the order of penalty were declared reserved, are the legal arguments that the Disciplinary Boards appealed, which joined the Navy, to cancel the sanction orders demanded by President Rafael Correa against three officers.

The Ministry of Defence invokes Article 36, paragraph b, of the Rules of Military Discipline, on faults that attempt against subordination, so that there is a punishment.

The invalidity in cases of Lieutenants Edwin Ortega and José Peñafiel was issued because it was not transacted to the proper process because the Boards were not integrated within the period specified in the standard.

Against Ortega, the Board was built 12 days after the known damage, and should have been done in 3; and in Penafiel, the time “exceeded” 72 hours, according to the documents.

In the two resolutions it is recognized that the president is the highest authority of the Armed Forces, but the regulations do not cover civil authority and does not have a military hierarchy.